The present invention generally relates to a secure clamping system for sealing multiple vessels such as vial arrays, multi-well plates, and deep well blocks, as typically used in the chemical, pharmaceutical, or biological arts. This clamping device will be used to secure commercially available storage units having sealing mats with or without dimples (plugs). The dimples, or plugs, are inserted into one or more individual wells or vials providing enhanced isolation of one such well or vial from another. The purpose of securely clamping the sealing mats is to prevent evaporation, spillage or contamination of a liquid contained therein, or the inadvertent transfer of the liquid from one well to another, as well as to provide a mechanical means to secure the flexible sealing mat to multi-vessel arrays in order to prevent the sealing mat from dislodging, and allow for a variety of applications including, but not limited to, reaction chemistry, liquid/liquid extraction, compound and solution storage.
In the chemical, pharmaceutical, and biochemistry arts, multi-compartment vessels are commonly used to carry out chemical reactions and store reagents and samples. Multi-well plates come in a variety of formats, 24 wells—4×6 array; 48 wells—6×8 array; 96 wells—8×12 array, but now a 384 and a 1536 well format are becoming increasingly common. Multi-well plates may be manually handled or handled by automated systems. Materials or samples are placed in the various compartments of the vessel and covered with a flexible sealing mat. Fluids may be transferred between selected wells, and the plates may be manipulated for storing, reacting and/or analyzing the samples. Accordingly, a means is needed to securely cover the vessel to ensure that the materials will not be spilled, and/or that the gases from the reaction do not escape to the atmosphere. A loose-fitting seal does not significantly guard against evaporation, sublimation, absorption, or cross-contamination between wells.
Numerous attempts have been made to provide a secure sealing system, however, they have a number of shortcomings, which the present invention overcomes. For example, one method of sealing the storage containers involves using a commercially available heat-sealable foil or plastic film that may be applied across the entire upper surface of the plate. Application of these films provide an efficient, gas and liquid tight seal, but the heat-sealing process to secure the films in place is cumbersome, may warp the plate and affect its performance in automated robotic equipment. In addition, access to each well can only be obtained by piercing the film or by peeling the film off by hand or with a foil stripper, causing the end user to re-apply the film. Consequently, this type of seal is not re-usable.
In other sealing systems, the clamping systems are made of more than two parts. This increases the difficulty needed to utilize the equipment, leading to potential spillage of the contents. In addition, having many parts increases the chance that parts will get misplaced or confused with other systems. Additionally, in these other systems, the sealing clamps are specific to a particular vessel type and dimension, and cannot be used for vessel types of different dimensions, which can result in a costly expense to the consumer. Lastly, other systems specifically do not allow for vessels that have bottom drain ports, such as filter plates, thereby preventing the vessel to be drained without disassembling the sealing system.